Has anyone found it different that the Spartans in 300, totally fought different then every other warriors in other movies. I thought the fighting was awesome, and maybe thats why they were the best. They were true warriors!

1.Didnt use bows2.Used shields primarily3.Used the spear effectively4.Worked as a group to win5.Helped a teammate when they needed it6.Never retreated7.Werent effected by the massive amount of arrows coming at them8.Used sword after spear (most movies go straight to sword)

Well it might be exaggerated but it was awesome. The fighting is obviously not going to be how they fought, since we cant ask one of their warriors what it was like. But I think it was the best fighting in movies (period).

It's very loosely based on Roman military techniques of the day. The use of weapons, especially the shield and phalanx principles in the movie, come from historical accounts. Sure it's spiced up some (a lot) but at least they made an effort to be historically accurate instead of just making it up completely.I enjoyed the movie also, but for best fight scene in a recent movie I have to go with the Bourne Identity series. They really make an effort to use interesting techniques in the dirtiest ways. It's more like a brawl than a fight, then someone gets killed with a telephone at the end! Now that I'm completely off subject...

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The more I learn, the more everything is the same.

One thing I noticed in 300 (that I thought was quite interesting) was how they almost-always moved their shields towards their backs (defending from rear attacks, obviously)... usually the movies leave these parts out and portray the warriors as indestructible. I was quite impressed when I noticed they were always repositioning their shield behind them while striking.

Yeah a lot of it was different then in other movies, like you just pointed out. You usually dont see warriors getting killed from the back when they attack and it would be quite probable that it would happen.

The movie, 300 is based on the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC. While everone claims that they defeated a million, this is almost CERTAINLY an exaggertion. That is beyond the ability of 300 soldiers UNLESS they employed mass-scale weapons.

But for 300 men to defeat a million soldiers in combat would mean that each would have to kill over three thousand men. Not even Bruce Lee or Muhhamad Ali had that kind of stamina.

As for the fighting in the movie. It's mostly CG (computer generated) comic book style fighting. The actual fighting of the Spartans was much different. It's hard enough to come up with much information on karate from the 17th Century and the Battle of Thermopylae was over 2000 years before that.

As for the tactics in the movie, they remind me of the tactics of SWAT Teams- the way they work together as a group to take out the enemy. (Although it was drastically exaggerated in 300)

Well I think that you need to add in the other 7000 Greeks that were there also, a fact usually forgotten. Not to mention the combined Greek fleet led by an Athenian which prevented the defenders from being outflanked.

-and that that a lot of the enemy frags were from traps akin to the pushing them off the cliff they did actually manage to get a rediculious amout of kills though because of their stratigic positon they were hardend warriors defending their entire country (and most of the world due to what the concequences would have been had they lost) while the persians were mainly slaves who had marched a long ways. home team had the advantage over visitors.

Historically speaking, the reason why the Spartans and their allies during the battled did so well was due to their strategic positioning of forces. Also the Spartans had been basically bred for combat. That pitted against the indentured soldier and mainstream regulars of the Persian Empire, they would be taking a serious dent before they walked past the Spartans.

Things such as shield tactics and communication helped a lot for the Spartans, though. Their spears also gave them a great advantage due to their 'killing reach'.

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Former U.S. Marine Infantryman and Firefighter.

All the information we have was recorded by Heroditus 60 years after the battle. He gathered his information by inteviewing veterans of the war, mostly Athenians. The Athenians were just as facinated with the Spartans as we are today because their culture was so diferent. There are many instances where Herodotus says outright that he has conflicting reports but will give us the most believable story.

Modern historians are fairly sure that Herodatus miss-understood the Persian numbering system when he reported a million Persans. They are fairly sure they can calculate back to 300,000 because Herodatus gives a breakdown of how he compiled the numbers.

50% of the Greek states "mediated". They gave earth and water to the Persians and allied with them. Greek aliances with the Persians went back many generations, especialy in Anatolia (Turkey).The whole point of the Persian invasion was to punish Athens for aiding a Greek Revolt in Anatolia against their overlord Persians. It is likely that there would have been a lot of Greeks fighting as heavy Greek infantry in the Persian army.

We know for sure that when Alexander the Great fought the Persians, the Persians had more Greeks in their army then Alexander did. It was the Greek mercenaries that offered Alexander the greatest resistance in Persia.

To understand the Spartans you must know why they became the great military society that they were. Sparta like all other Greek states was a slave society.This was the basis of their society that made thier civilization posible. They were almost completely defeated by a slave revolt around 700 BC. As a result they turned themselves into a military society in order to control their huge slave polulation. In an era before machine guns, a slave polulation with sharp sticks was a very real threat. Slaves outnumbered free Spartans 20 or more times. Hence the Spartans were trained to accept the fact that they would always be outnumbered many times over in any fight and they were expected to win.

The Spartans were not suicidal. They were trained to win, not die. They were very religious though and the oracle of Delphi said that a Spartan king must die for Greece to be free. It is likely that King Lionidis intentionaly stayed to satisfy the oracle. Even when the Persians were comming around the pass, Thucidities, the Athenia Admiral, offered to take the Spartans to safety on his ships.

Funny that even though the movie may seem exagerated, it is posible that in reality it might have been even more fantastic in other ways.

What I find even more amazing was the victory that the Greeks pulled off the following year at platia against the Persians. The victory at Platia was also a battle against great odds, but does not get as much glory. Infact, the Spartan General that won the battle was forced to commit suicide in disgace by the Spartans.

Quote:You do know that most of what is in that movie is just exagerated for the thrill factor. While I enjoyed the movie, it is VERY farfetched.

Far fetched? All movie fight scenes are far fetched. However, if anyone could pull off those moves, the Spartans probably could. A fighter raised in a warrior culture with his weapon of choice must have made for a fearful opponent.